Foldable container



July 14, 1959 s. E. KAPLAN EOLDABLE CONTAINER Filed June 30, 1958 w m mm S/IOLOM 1 KAPLA/V z ATTORNEYS United States Patent FOLDABLE CONTAINERSholom Kaplan, Hartford, Conn., assignor to The S. and F. Company,Hartford, Conn., a partnership Application June 30,1958, Serial No.745,584

3 Claims. Cl. 243-99 This invention relates to improvements incontainers, and more particularly to a foldable container having ahanging fixture or bracket incorporated therein.

A major object is to provide an improved foldable container having asimple and effective hanging fixture comprising three easily formedparts of wirelike rod stock automatically locked together upon assemblyby inherent bias of one of the parts which is held stressed by the otherparts.

Another object is to provide an improved foldable hanging fixture whichpermits folding while remaining attached to a bag-like container of nonform-sustaining material with both fixture and container collapsed intoa flat form requiring minimum storage space.

Another object is to provide a foldable bag and bracketlike fixtureassembly permitting separate fabrication of the bag and. the fixtureparts and final assembly by projecting parts of the fixture throughenclosures formed in the bag and manually connecting exposed parts toform interlocking connections, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

Another object is to provide a folding container particularly adaptedfor use by motorists, which uses little of the space in a conventionalglove compartment when stored therein, and which may easily be hungwithin an automobile, for example, from a vacuum cup held hook on awindow or panel to provide a convenient receptacle for paper and otherwaste material.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partially in phantom, of a hangingcontainer with the invention incorporated therein; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end view of the container of Fig. l.

The container of the drawings comprises an upwardly open bag-likereceptacle which is preferably formed of plastic sheet stock or aplastic impregnated fabric, but may also be of heavy cloth or canvas.The bag shown may be easily fabricated from a single sheet of material,suitably cut and folded back along the bottom 12 to provide front andback panels 16 and 18 respectively with integral portions of the frontpanel extending rearwardly and sewed or bonded such as by a heat seal tothe back panel along seams 20, or, if desired, the bag may have V-shapedends, formed by an insert as shown by a second seam 21. The top marginsof both the front and back panels are folded inwardly of the containerand sewed or bonded along dotted lines 22 and 24, respectively, to forma marginal hem in each panel for reception of bracket members.

Fig. 1 shows upper bag portions, including the hem,

in phantom, with the fixture members therein, major portions of whichare normally concealed, shown in heavy lines. The assembly consists ofthree interconnected parts,=preferably formed from the same wire-likerod stock. A front and side wall suspending rod 26 is provided with apair of substantialyy closed end loops 28 which are preferably formedbefore the rod is projected through the hem of the front panel, afterwhich portions at' each end of the rod are bent as shown at 30 to definearcuate corners which shape the bag, at least near the top thereof, intofront and side Wall portions, with the central portion of rod 26 beingoutwardly bowed as shown when loops 28 are held' inwardly under stressby associated fixture members to interlock the other parts as belowdescribed. Rod 26 is. of a length to permit the looped ends .thereof toextend rearwardly of the hem openings .of the front panel as shown inFig. 2. The .manner in which the container is formed, as above, places.those hem openings in proximity to the hem openings of the back panel,since the two panels are joined just below the hem openings at 29.

A second wire-like rod 32 has U -shaped end portions 34 rather thanloops bent back against the rod stock such. as loops 28 of rod 26. Rod32 is projected through the marginal hem of the rear bag panel 18, withits ends extending beyond each end of the hem. A third rod 36 serves asa hanger for the bag-supporting rods 26 and 32 and has a central loop 38to encircle a hook or the like. Each end of. rod.36 is bent to form adepending leg 40, curved upwardly at 42 and inwardly to define anannulus 44 in contact with leg 40 for bearing support of rod 32 adjacentthe curved end thereof.

With rods 26 and 32 extending through the front and rear hems,respectively, of the container, final assembly of the fixture is asfollows:

Rod 36 normally positions legs 40, near or at a somewhat greater spacingthan distance between the U-shaped ends of rod 32. One of the bearings44 is slipped over an end' 34 of rod 32, and, with rod 36 bowed, theopposi'te bearing 44 is slipped over the opposite end' 34 of rod 32.When released, rod 36 preferably remains slightly bowed with bothbearings 44 biased outwardly against the curved inner ends of rod 32 toprovide a pivot connection therebetween.

The looped ends 28 of El'Od 26 are preferably spaced apart a slightlygreater distance than are bearings 44, as those bearings are positionedagainst the reversed ends of rod 32. One loop 28 is next slipped over areversed end 34 of rod 32, and with rod 26 bowed, the opposite loop 28is mounted to the opposite end 34 of rod 32, the loop spacing being suchthat the central portion of rod 26 remains tensioned outwardly toposition the bag open as shown in Fig. l, with loops 28 urged againstbearings 44, and with the bearings urged against the U-shaped ends ofrod 32 to maintain the three fixture parts in locked assembly. Whenfairly heavy rod stock is employed, the center portion of rod 26 may bepermanently arced, with the arced portion tensioned as above, but withlight rod stock it is merely necessary to bend the rod at points 30 intoa U-shape with loops 28 spaced apart a sufficient distance to bow outthe center portion when maintained in locked assembly against bearings44.

As shown in Fig. 2, the hem 46 of the bag back panel 18 is held upwardlyat an incline when the container is hung in the open position shown inFig. 1, since rod 32 is positioned to the rear of the back wall when thebag is held open. The fixture may be folded by pivoting its hanger 36downwardly into engagement with the front panel hem which encloses rod26. While bearings 44 are positioned to allow forward pivoting, hanger36 is constrained against pivoting in the opposite direction byengagement of legs 42 with rod 32 adjacent the curved ends thereof, asis shown in Fig. 2. The engagement between those rod portions as hanger36 is drawn back to about ninety degree angularity to the plane of rod26, however, pivots rod 32 upwardly into engagement with rod 26 as shownin Fig. 2 to support rod 26 outwardly in substantial 90 angularity tothe plane of hanger 36 with the bag open and its front wall bowedoutwardly as shown.

With the fixture portion of the container folded, the upper portionsthereof, still held in semi-rigid assembly by rods 26 and 32, may befolded forward as a unit against the front bag panel to collapse thatpanel against the rear panel with the resultant flattened container thenbeing either reversely folded or again forwardly folded for reduction ofsize, it being obvious that the entire container may be folded into aspace not larger than the area defined by folded rods 26 and 32 plus thethickness of the folded material.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, varif:

ous modifications and adaptations of the structure above described willbecome readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope ofthe invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A foldable hanging fixture for a collapsible bag comprising awire-like hanger, each end of which is formed with a depending leghaving a portion reversed to provide an arm extending upwardly from thelower end of the leg, the upper end of each arm being looped to form abearing positioned above the lower end of the leg, a first wire-like bagsupporting element having reversely bent end portions, with each endportion extending through one of the hanger bearings for pivotal supportof said first element by said hanger, and having a u portion thereofengageable with the legs of the hanger to limit pivotal movement of thesupporting element, and a second wire-like bag supporting elementincluding a central portion and arm portions disposed in generallyU-configuration and terminating in substantially closed loops, saidsecond element being resilient and being mounted with the loops thereofencircling the free ends of said reversely bent end portions and withthe arm portions providing a biasing force outwardly against the bearingdefining ends of said hanger to retain the elements in assembledposition, said arm portions of the second element being engageable withsaid first element to limit pivotal movement of the second element forsupporting said second element in angular relationship to the hangerwhen the fixture is suspended by means of the hanger.

2. In a foldable hanging container, a bag of non formsustaining materialhaving front, side and back walls, a marginal hem extending along theback wall and open at each end adjacent the side walls, and a marginalhem extending along the front and side walls and opening at each endadjacent the back wall, a first wire-like element extending through theback wall hem and terminating in U-shaped ends laterally of the hemopenings, a hanger having spaced depending end portions, each of whichis reversed and shaped to define a bearing positioned above the lowerend thereof, each end of said first element extending through one ofsaid bearings, and a second wire-like element extending through thefront and side wall hem and terminating at each end thereof insubstantially closed loops normally spaced apart a greater distance thansaid bearings when positioned and urged against the U-shaped ends ofsaid first element, said loops maintained inwardly of their normalposition and urged against said bearings with each loop thereofencircling one end of said first element, whereby when said hangerelement is held in an upright position, portions of the looped ends ofsaid second element extend over those end portions of said first elementwhich abut portions of the hanger below the bearings defined therein tosupport said second element in substantial right angularity to theupright hanger.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said hanger is formed of wirelike stockand comprises a central portion leading at each end thereof into adepending leg portion with the stock at each leg end curved upwardly todefine a spaced supporting arm and then curved toward the leg insubstantially annular configuration to define a bearing spaced upwardlyfrom both the lower end of the leg and the supporting arm portion.

No references cited.

